Has anyone taken classes or got a degree with an online college?
How would a degree from online college compare with one from a University? Pro and cons? Anyone got a degree from the university of phoenix onlien college
Thanks
How would a degree from online college compare with one from a University? Pro and cons? Anyone got a degree from the university of phoenix onlien college
Thanks
I’ve taken classes online through Brigham Young, University of Maine and Northhampton Community College. I ended up with an Associates from Brigham Young and UM. I loved the online courses. I managed to be able to work full time and raise a family while taking my classes. Good luck!
Many brick and mortar schools are offering some classes online. They do not carry the same stigma as online universities.
Graduates from the University of Phoenix make about $20K per year less than the average graduate from a real university.
The most interesting part of that fact is that the average 25 year old HS graduate makes $20K less than the average 25 year old college graduate.
Check out the articles at the following site.
I believe that Excelsior has a reputable online degree program. As a brick and mortar school, the degree does not indicate how much time was spent on campus.
I second the low opinion of U of P.
It is indeed all about the reputation of the college in question and not about the delivery method. Employers respect certain schools and don’t respect others. Those “as seen on TV” online programs tend to be at the bottom. Probably because the good programs at the top don’t need to advertise on TV. UoP is very poorly regarded in most circles – there are better options.
Almost every college in the US is teaching online now. It’s just the way education is going. Harvard, UC Berkeley, Oxford, UFlorida, UTexas, UMass, and probably U of Yourstate all teach online – many offer complete degrees online.
Note: While Excelsior College (Albany NY) is a member of the University of the State of NY and is a well known provider of distance education; they are not a ‘brick and mortar’ in that they don’t teach on their campus. It is only a recent addition that Excelsior offers classes at all. In the recent past, Excelsior (along with Thomas Edison State and Charter Oak State) was an assessment college. They existed to evaluate learning conducted at other schools (or by examination) for the purpose of degree completion. This is why you see so many military people with Excelsior degrees – military people move too often to complete the residency requirement at most schools and Excelsior (and the other two) has no residency requirement. (Excelsior College alumnus – twice)
Prof Ranto: read over that UoPSucks webpage and see if you really want to be citing it. I find that it is sensationalist and fraught with logical fallacy and statistical inaccuracy. They are clearly biased against UoP and are grasping at every negative they can. It’s just not a very good example of reporting integrity or good research. We can’t very well tell people that UoP displays no academic rigor if we refer them to this for an example.
For example; examine the UoP Grads Earn Less article and see if you’d let a student turn in those conclusions with the stats presented. There’s a clear inference but nothing to support the conclusions. The UoP grads sample has 12K examples against a median US sample of almost 300K examples. Of course the 300K examples will have a wider range, that would be expected. There’s no margin of error offered or standard deviation calculated. Does this article present enough information to determine statistical significance? I think not. If the stats can show this article to be true – why are they not presenting them to us?
I’m not defending or favoring UoP (I also regard them pretty low), I’m just wanting to see facts and not sensationalism. I don’t think we’re seeing the complete facts in all of these reports.
I’ve attended online classes at Central Texas College and Columbia College. I just graduated from Columbia College and will be attending law school this fall as a traditional student (brick and mortar).
If you are looking into online colleges… you should definitely consider attending an online college. Although some might say an online degree will be easier to earn, or will not be respected by employers, that is simply not the case.
Your degree will be identical to the degree conferred upon traditional brick-and-mortar students… and as an online student myself, I can assure you, the programs are every bit as rigorous!
Dozens of well-known, respected universities ranked in the Top 100 by U.S. News offer online programs (Penn State, Syracuse, Boston U, University of Illinois, and so on). Even Ivy League universities are catching on… Harvard University offers online classes through their Extension School.
I would advise against attending any college that is synonymous with online learning (we all know which colleges I’m talking about).
Attend a well-established university. State schools often have the best tuition rates and people don’t immediately think of online learning when you say you earned your degree at the University of Illinois or UMass.
The best feature of an online degree is flexibility. I have attended traditional classes and online classes, and I prefer the online format. As an online student, I am able to work full-time and carry a full-time course load. You can also afford to be picky about your program of study. There are literally hundreds of colleges offering online programs.
In terms of academics, as I mentioned previously, classes are every bit as challenging as traditional classes. In fact, I would say I work harder as an online student than I ever did when I was attending night classes. Also, if you shop around, online colleges can be more economical than traditional schools.
The best way to save money is to take your first two years online at a community college, typically the best tuition rates will be in your own state. Example: I attended Central Texas College for two years and my classes were just $50 per credit hour ($150 per class). That’s a steal. Once you have about 60 hours, transfer to another school that offers online classes. There are PLENTY of them that offer reasonable rates… you just have to shop around. Again, steer clear of schools that many consider to be for-profit (relatively new schools that offer mostly online classes). These types of schools are synoymous with online learning… and your resume will look much better with Penn State, University of Illinois, University of Massachusetts, and so on.
Also, in terms of cost, remember, just because you are taking online classes doesn’t mean you aren’t eligible for financial aid. If you are enrolled in a degree program and attending at least half-time, you are generally eligible for financial aid. It’s how I’ve financed my entire education!
I have several hundred online colleges (and reviews) listed on my blog if you want to check out some great programs: http://www.online-college-blog.com